Masters & Mages By Miles Cameron
My second straight adventure into the writing of Miles Cameron. The first comparison that comes to mind is my previous read by Miles, The Traitor Son Cycle, but not because of the similarities, but for the differences. Traitor Son had several POV characters throughout, while this series was almost entirely from a single point of view, that of the main character, Aranthur.
Traitor Son Cycle also seemed like everything put into the book was important. Most of the characters were reoccurring, where as in Masters and Mages it seemed like some characters were introduced and while they may have seemed important for a chapter or two, often faded into obscurity shortly later.
The main character is Aranthur, a farm boy with some inherent magical power, selected to attend the local mage school. Aranthur is from a part of the world, and a member of a community that most people of the civilized world consider barbarous. He’s not the best student, not the smartest, and not the most magically gifted. He just seems to have the talent to end up at the wrong place at the right time and get mixed up in the biggest trouble the land has possibly ever known.
Aranthur’s upbringing, his magical prowess, and his skill with a blade draws easy comparison to Tavi from Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series. Aranthur also reminds me of several characters from L.E. Modesitt’s Saga of Recluce. An overwhelming number of the main characters from Recluce seem to be under achieving young adult males, with some sort of craftsmanship skill, better than average combat skills, and growing magical power. Most of the characters share Aranthur’s modesty and self doubt.
The time Aranthur spends at the academy reminds me of parts of The Kingkiller Chronicles and to a lesser extent, The Magicians and Harry Potter.
Overall, a solid read. I actually wish it were longer, and look forward to reading more Miles Cameron Fantasy writing in the future
